


Yellow Canaries

by TheodoreR



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: M/M, Nightmares, Sharing a Room
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-03-22
Packaged: 2019-04-06 10:41:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14055195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheodoreR/pseuds/TheodoreR
Summary: "You have the audacity to wake me up but not actually die."---------------------------------------------------Liam killed Theo and that’s what happens when you try to make a good action.(Spoiler: Liam didn't actually killed Theo.)





	Yellow Canaries

**Author's Note:**

> PROMPT: “You have the audacity to wake me up but not actually die”.  
> I took it from [here.](https://theodorerr.tumblr.com/post/172122607411/dialogue-prompts-that-really-butter-my-eggroll)
> 
> (I apologize to Marzia because Theo does not have a nickname in this. I failed you. Perdonami se puoi.)

 

Liam killed Theo and that’s what happens when you try to make a good action.

It all started when the deputies told the Sheriff who told Melissa who told his stepdad who told his mom. The Sheriff also told Parrish, who told Lydia who told Stiles who told Scott who told Malia who told Derek who told Peter who didn’t give a fuck.

Nobody told Liam, because nobody ever tells Liam anything, which is why Liam always eavesdrops other people’s conversations, which is why he knows things about Mrs Jenkins’s past and current choice of underwear that no human or werewolf should ever known. Liam is starting to have his doubts on what she plans to do with those sewing needles she thinks he stole.

Thanks to his espionage activity, Liam also knows that Theo is apparently sleeping in his truck and nobody knows what to do about it.

Scott asked Derek if he could have maybe stayed for awhile in one of the apartment in his empty building, but then Derek asked Scott if Theo was the one that tried to kill them all when he wasn’t in town and then Liam sneezed and his mom spotted him behind the door spying on her and David. It wasn’t even a secret apparently, they weren’t purposely trying to keep this information from him, it’s just that nobody _thought_ of telling him, like Liam wasn’t the one who literally dragged the chimera’s ass back from the ground and accepted him as his responsibility.

He couldn’t ask them anything though, because it didn’t fit with the _not eavesdropping on you, here behind the door by accident_ thing, so he went to Mason and told him about it.

Mason said “ _It sucks that he lives in his truck_ ” and Liam said “ _Yeah, it sucks_ ” and then they played videogames for two hours straight and before heading home Liam said _“So it sucks that Theo lives in his truck, yeah_?” and Mason said “ _Yes, it sucks”_ and they split up. Liam walked for several minutes before realizing that he was not infact the last one to be informed about this, because while nobody told him, nobody told Theo as well, so he decided to call him.    

“Yes?” Theo answered his phone and just then Liam remembered that Theo already knew he was sleeping in his truck, being him the one doing it.

“You suck.” He said instead. “Living in your truck. It sucks that you do that. Do you want to suck me, I mean, do you want to come suck at my house.” Liam swallowed and listened to the silence for some time before adding. “We have pizza tonight.”

“Okay.” Theo hang up, leaving Liam wondering what he just _okayed_ at.

He immediately called his mom.

“Mom, I think I invited Theo for dinner.”

“You think?”

“I’m not sure if I invited him for dinner or to live with us.”

That’s when Liam knew he apparently did a good action, when he left out the part where he also probably invited him to suck his dick and his mom didn’t get mad at him. She said he did a nice thing and that they would have talked about it when he got home.

They did talked about it, mostly his mom and stepdad, and Liam just listened, and then they talked again and Liam listened again, but this time Theo listened too and this is how Liam ended up with a corpse in his room.

Theo is not dead yet, Liam can still hear him moaning and waging a few meters from him, on the cot his family offered him, sheets and blanket tossed on the floor and his claws buried deep on his pillow, but it’s clear he doesn’t have much time left before he exhales his last breath. Liam punched Theo several times in his life and also saw him getting shot and not one single time he released a whine, so all this noise he’s making now in his sleep, so loud it woke Liam up, can only mean he’s dying.

As he sits and presses his bare feet on the cold floor, Liam feels incredibly guilty, because it can’t be a coincidence that Theo decided to die the same day Liam accidentally invited him to stay at his place. He doesn’t know what it is exactly, it could be the pillow, maybe he’s allergic to goose feathers –it would explain why he’s trying to shred it apart- , maybe it’s the heating, he’s too used to the cold of his truck during nights and now his internal organs are boiling, maybe Liam farted in his sleep and that’s it, Mason keeps saying even after two years that he almost died that time when Liam ate beans. Maybe Theo is just not used to sleep in the same room with other people and his body is reacting to it, or it could also be the over kindness his parents offered him during dinner with all their ”did you eat enough? Are you sure? Take another slice of cake, you’re so skinny, honey” –he’s not by the way, but everyone he’s too skinny in his mother’s eyes, that’s why Liam was a ball of fat when he was younger. Parents can be a lot to take if you’re not used to them, maybe _they_ killed Theo and he just waited to die not to be rude. Liam likes this idea, because this would make Liam innocent.

“Theo” He whispers, moving carefully closer to the sleeping boy, because if he can just make him explain himself before he dies things will be a lot easier: Liam needs to know if he has to feel guilty about this or not. “Theo, wake up.”

“...’kay” Theo mumbles, his voice thin and pained. Liam stops, frowning. Wait. It’s not pain. He smells the air, careful for chemosignals. Fear. Theo is scared. “...you don’t have to stop...”

“Theo!” He calls him again, louder this time, shaking him a little, because of course this has to stop, what is he bubbling about. His shirt is sweaty and warm under Liam’s fingertips and Theo opens his eyes wide, panic still evident in his blue irises and dilated pupils. It’s just a second though, because as soon as he meets Liam’s eyes he takes a deep shaky breath and his claws instantly retracts, leaving the pillow falling on the floor. “Liam?” He murmurs and Liam curls his nose, still checking the air. _Relief._  

“Are you okay?” He asks, sensing as his heartbeat gradually slow down till his usual steady rhythm.

Theo sits and clears his throat, looking at the sheets on the floor. The skin on his naked legs is covered by goosebumps and cold sweat. “Yes.”

He’s physically fine, Liam doesn’t need his answer to see that.

“You have the audacity to wake me up but not actually die, I can’t believe this.” He mutters grabbing the punctured pillow and sheets and throwing them back on the mattress. “You’re such a drama queen.”

“I didn’t wake you up.” Theo protests weakly, looking at his hands.

“You totally did.” Liam insists, leaning over him a bit in order to lowkey sniff him a little more. He still doesn’t smell alright. “Are you sure you’re not dying? What happened?”

“Nothing.” Theo shrugs but Liam’s face must show he’s not convinced at all. “I was dreaming.”

“You were having a nightmare.” Liam points out, frowning. “What scares you so much?”

“I wasn’t scared.” Theo avoid his gaze, adjusting the sheets on himself. Liam automatically helps him tugging them under the mattress.

“You were and you still are. I can smell it. What is it?” Liam can tell from Theo’s eyes that they’re totally about to do the whole  _I won’t tell you shit, it’s nothing_ thing and he sighs. It’s three in the morning, he doesn’t have time for this. “Tell me, I’m going to help. I’m great at this kind of things.” 

Theo raise his brows, sceptic, finally looking a little more like himself. “What kind of things?”

“This kind.” Liam shrugs, because he has no idea. “Tell me what you’re scared of and I’ll solve it in a second, come on, I’ll show you.”

Liam has to insist a little more, but Theo finally spills the beans.

“Canaries.” He sighs between his teeth. “Your neighbour has two of them on her porch. I don’t like them. They’re creepy.”

“You are afraid of canaries.” Liam repeats with no intonation.

Theo nods, clenching his jaw. “Yes.”

“You were having a nightmare about canaries.” Liam’s voice is still completely blank and he feels kinda proud of himself for it.

“Yes.” Theo, on the other hand, is almost growling.

Liam swallows, pressing his lips together. He can do this.

“And what were the canaries doing?” His voice is just a little higher than normal, almost imperceptibly.  

“They were pecking at me.” Theo says and from his glare it’s clear that he totally caught Liam’s efforts. “With their pointed becks. They were tearing me _apart_.”

Liam has to take several deep breaths to keep his cool now. Mrs Jenkins’ canaries were tearing Theo apart. Tragic, just tragic. Not funny at all. He can do this. 

Then he remembers something.

“Okay, but why did you tell the canaries not to stop if they were tearing you apart with their little pointed beaks?” He asks slowly. He just hopes this isn’t some kind of masochist fetish.

Theo doesn’t look like he’s going to answer that, but then, surprisingly, he does.

“Because I feel guilty.”

“About what?” Liam insists confused, because Theo literally moved in that day, he can't have done anything to Mrs Jenkins yet. Not like Liam, who totally stole her sewing needles.  
Theo bites his lip, lowering his head. “I killed a canary when I was a kid. I was throwing stones in my garden and I hit him.”

Liam stares at him. What is he, a priest now, receiving confessions and stuff? Is he supposed to absolve him or what? But then again, he _did_ asked.  

He clears his throat, shrugging. “Well, it was an accident.”

“I don’t know.” Theo instantly replies and Liam frowns, confused. “I don’t remember if it was an accident. Maybe it wasn’t.”

Liam stays quiet.

“Still.” He says after awhile. “Would you murder a canary now?”

Theo shakes his head. “No.”

Liam shrugs. “There, that’s it.”

“That doesn’t chang-”

“Listen” Liam interrupts him impatiently, pointing his finger at him. “You can’t feel guilty all your life because once you killed a canary or else you’ll never sleep again which means _I’ll_ never sleep again since you sleep here now apparently. Canaries will _always_ be there, you know, even when Mrs Jenkins’ canaries will die, she’ll just buy other canaries and she won’t even care because she doesn’t really love them, that old lady doesn’t love anything besides her sewing needles, and when she’ll die, which is not gonna be for ages since she’s probably immortal anyway, someone else will be there to buy them, maybe _I’ll_ do it and-”

“Why would you possibly buy canaries.”

“Because canaries are little soft yellow balls and they’re cute!” Liam shouts passionate and his mother screams back something very offensive and not maternal at all from the other room. Liam lowers his voice, still very passionate tough. “And honestly, it kinda makes sense that they’re your enemy, you probably like bats or something like that.”

Theo pouts. “I don’t like bats.”

“You love them.”

“I don’t.”

“They’re your favourite animal, stop lying.” Liam decrees. “Hey, it’s okay: you can love bats. Just because they’re all ugly and dark and evil it doesn’t mean you can’t love them.”

“I don’t-”

“But you _do_ , that’s the thing. Even if you don’t want to, even if it doesn’t really make sense, even if no one else does and they’re probably dangerous and weird and they sleep upside down and sometimes bite people to death, you still love them and that’s it.” Liam shrugs. “You can’t choose who you love. You can love yellow canaries all your life and then suddenly find yourself loving a black bat. It happens. People need to understand it. It’s not their business anyway, they can mistrust bats all they want and they probably have every right to do so, because bats tried to kill them in the past, but there will always be someone who likes spending his time with bats and talking to them, and nobody can do anything about it. That’s just how it is.”

The room fells silent and Theo stares weirdly at Liam for several seconds.

“If you come home with a pet bat I’ll go back sleeping in my truck, I’m telling you.”

Liam sighs. “I won’t.” He assures him, as if he actually needed to. Bats scare the shit out of him. “Are you going to have another nightmare now?”

“Maybe I’ll have one about bats.” He smirks sarcastic. “Was this supposed to make me sleep better?”

“No.” Liam shakes his head. “This will.” He leaves the room and he comes back only five minutes later, throwing his old rag eagle on Theo’s lap. “Here. Eagles eat canaries.”

“They really don’t.” Theo mutters studying the eagle in his hands. It’s a little consumed, Liam refused to sleep without it when he was a kid. He also threw it against walls and people when he was mad.  

“Yes, they do, they eat everything that’s smaller than them.”

“I’m not sleeping with a rag toy, Liam.” Theo cuts him off with a firm tone.

“You are.” Liam shrugs. “It comes with the bed.”

“Then I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“It comes with the floor too.” Liam insists, stubborn. “It comes with the house.”

Theo glares at him and then at the eagle and he’s about to reply, but Liam doesn’t let him. “Listen, just trust me on this, you need to tear the canaries apart with your eagle’s claws.”

Theo snorts. “Your solution to me feeling guilty for killing a canary is to kill _more_ of them?”

“Yes.” Liam nods, ardent. “In dreams, obviously, not in reality. Never in reality. But if the canaries come for you, you need to fight them. You can’t tell them to keep going, because they _do_ need to stop. So you’re going to say _I’m very sorry about the canary I killed when I was an evil kid, but I’m not now and I’m alive and I can’t be sorry all my life and I can’t let you tear me apart, so I’ll fight back if you try to peck me and I’ll win because I have eagle claws and all you have is your ball of fluffiness and yellow. So fuck off_. That’s what you’re going to tell the canaries.”

The room is silent again now and Liam stares at Theo expectantly.

“Say it.” He urges him.

“What.”  
“Say that you’re going to say _fuck off_ to the canaries.”

Theo absently bites his thumbnail glancing at Liam. His other hand tightens his grip on the eagle.  

Liam waits patiently.

“I’ll tell the canaries to fuck off.” He says outloud as Liam smiles and the door opens.

David stares at Theo with a frown on his face. Liam can’t really blame him.

“He doesn’t like birds.” He explains. Theo clumsily hides the rag eagle under the blankets. David still hasn’t blinked.  
“Could you guys be more quiet?” He asks after a while, slowly, the way you would talk to a crazy person standing next to another crazy person.

“Yeah, sure.” Liam nods promptly while Theo still looks like he’s been caught in the act while talking shit behind canaries' backs, which is exactly what happened. “Sorry if we woke you up.”

His stepdad throws them both another weird and slightly scared look and then he closes the door. Liam smiles satisfied, because this went a lot worse in his head, with the sheriff interrogating them both about this violent gang of drug dealers called _the canaries._   

“Just to be sure” He whispers as he heads for his bed. “Since he broke the moment, you’ll say what to the canaries?”

“Fuck off” Theo mutters throwing himself under the blankets and Liam is going to pretend he wasn’t talking to him.

“Good. Exactly. Let’s go back to sleep then.” He sighs slipping under his own, now cold, blankets. “And let me sleep this time, you stupid bat. I’ll bring you real canaries and incite them against you if you wake me up again.”

Theo smiles silently for some reason, looking almost surprised. Then he nods. “I won’t.”

“Hug the eagle.”

_“The hell I will.”_

“You know you want to.” Liam says as he adjusts himself in his bed, facing the wall. “It’s as soft as it looks.”

Theo doesn’t answer and Liam waits until his breaths goes deeper and slower before peeking over his shoulder to glance at him.

He’s hugging it. He knew it.  

 

 

 

 

Deep down Liam knows Theo is not actually scared of canaries, because his heart missed a beat when he said it.

But he sleeps peaceful all night, so maybe Liam still helped him somehow.

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> The whole point of this is the confession that Liam _did_ infact stole Mrs Jenkins’ sewing needles. She was right all along. Everything in _The kiss thing_ is a lie now. 
> 
> As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this, am I bothering you with all these Thiam? Do you like them? Do they have the same effect on your life as the flap of a butterfly's wings on the other side of the planet? I'd love to know. *Say something I'm giving up on youuu*-I'll stop being dramatic okay.


End file.
